NPR, PBS, Late Night Aren’t the Enemy: Authoritarianism Is, Fight for Democracy!

We are watching American media shift from watchdog to state tool. The Trump administration’s push for a “bias monitor” at CBS News is not oversight. It’s control. A person now sits inside a newsroom, judging what is “fair” and “acceptable” content. That’s not journalism. That’s surveillance. It mirrors the same authoritarian tactics once used to silence opposition in pre-war Germany. This is not limited to CBS. Funding to independent outlets like Voice of America has been slashed. Journalists have been sidelined for doing their jobs. Late-night hosts like Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert face suspension and political targeting for satire. These moves are not about media ethics, they are about silencing critique. A government that fears jokes and journalism is not protecting democracy. It is dismantling it. PBS and NPR have faced funding cuts despite their unmatched role in fact-based reporting and public health coverage. These are the very institutions that helped educate the public about COVID, tracked vaccine safety, and reported on breakthroughs in Alzheimer’s and cancer research. Silencing them isn’t about saving money. It’s about removing truth from the public square. Experts have warned for years that democracies fall when the press is controlled. When politicians decide what truth is, we all lose. First it’s comedians, then reporters, then everyday citizens. That’s the pattern. That’s how free nations slide into tyranny. I demand you take immediate action. Speak out against media control. Defund and dismantle any state-mandated media monitors. Restore independent journalism protections stripped under this administration. And stop standing with Trump. Start standing with America, before there’s no free voice left to say we warned you.